Yesterday, the Commission presented a list of headline indicators for monitoring progress towards the EU’s environment and climate goals to 2030, as well as the 2050 long-term vision to ‘live well, within planetary boundaries’. Resulting from intense consultations with stakeholders and Member States, the new Monitoring Framework under the 8th Environment Action Programme aims to foster […]
Read More
Council endorsement of the regulation to reduce gas demand: Statement by the President Ursula von der Leyen
Today, the EU has taken a decisive step to face down the threat of a full gas disruption by Putin. I strongly welcome the endorsement by Council of the Council Regulation on coordinated demand reduction measures for gas. The political agreement reached by Council in record time, based on the Commission’s proposal “Save gas for […]
Read More
EU solidarity with Slovenia in combating wildfires
20 June, Slovenia requested assistance to tackle unprecedented forest fires in the Karst of Gorica region of the Miren Kostanjevica municipality. Various firefighting assets have been already deployed or are on their way to help the local responders. The EU Civil Protection Mechanism is providing Slovenia with 3 firefighting helicopters, (one from Austria, one from […]
Read More
Spain’s assessment of the European Commission’s ‘Save gas for a safe winter’ package
Teresa Ribera, Vice-President of the Government and Minister for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, has called for a debate on the ‘Save gas for a Safe winter’ package presented yesterday by the European Commission aimed to reduce the impact of a possible total cut-off of Russian gas supplies to the EU: “we understand that […]
Read More
Commission proposes gas demand reduction plan to prepare EU for supply cuts
The European Union faces the risk of further gas supply cuts from Russia, due to the Kremlin’s weaponisation of gas exports, with almost half of our Member States already affected by reduced deliveries. Taking action now can reduce both the risk and the costs for Europe in case of further or full disruption, strengthening European […]
Read More
Spain: 285 million euros to contribute to rail freight development
The European Commission has approved, under EU state aid rules, a EUR 285 million program submitted by Spain to promote the transition from road to rail freight transport. The program will be financed through the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (RRM), following the Commission’s positive assessment of Spain’s Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan and its adoption […]
Read More
Droughts in Europe in July 2022: almost half of the EU +UK territory at risk
The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre has published the “Drought in Europe – July 2022” report, an assessment of Europe’s drought situation based on the European Drought Observatory. The analysis of the evolution and impact of the prolonged drought in the EU shows that a staggering portion of Europe is currently exposed to warning (44% of […]
Read More
EU and Azerbaijan enhance bilateral relations, including energy cooperation
On 18 July in Baku, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson met with President Ilham Aliyev and Azeri Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov to strengthen the existing cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan. The two Presidents signed a new Memorandum of Understanding on a Strategic Partnership in the Field of Energy. Currently, the EU […]
Read More
New EU industrial strategy: the challenges to tackle
MEPs want the EU’s updated industrial strategy to enable European companies to be competitive, clean and resilient, and to also help the shift to a more digital and environmental economy. European enterprises have been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, as many have had to shut or reduce their workforce while finding new ways to work […]
Read More